New efforts to tackle AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria after coronavirus hit

In efforts to deal with it AIDStuberculosis and also malaria which started to recover after the severe blow they received in 2020 due to the pandemic of coronavirus experts focus. As characteristically emphasized in a new report published on Monday (12/9), the international community is not yet on a “victory path” over these deadly diseases.

In this 2021 report of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria it is stated that the number of people reached through treatment and prevention efforts rebounded last year after declining for the first time in nearly 20 years in 2020.

However, lost ground has not been fully recovered, as explained by Peter Sands, the head of the Fund, a half-private, half-public association based in Geneva.

“Most countries have done an impressive job of recovering from the horrific upheaval of 2020… but we are not where we would like to be. Too many people continue to die from these diseases,” he told Reuters last week.

For example, the number of patients treated for TB fell by 19% in 2020 to 4.5 million.

By 2021, that number had risen again by 12% to 5.3 million—but lower than the 5.5 million receiving treatment before the pandemic.

The effects of the pandemic

While programs for malaria and AIDS exceeded 2019 levels, the impact of the pandemic shows that they are falling short of the goal of eliminating these diseases by 2030.

Sands warned, as reported by the Athens News Agency that the effects of the global food crisis, exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will worsen the situation.

Infectious diseases are usually more deadly for people whose bodies are weakened by malnutrition and also do not respond as well to treatment or prevention efforts.

With this data, Sands explains, it is “likely” that the Fund will need to work with partners to provide more nutritional support than it has provided in the past in order to continue saving lives.

The report estimates that the Fund’s work with countries has saved around 50 million lives since it began in 2002. Since March 2020, it has spent $4.4 billion to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in key areas and to fight the pandemic.

To continue its work, the Fund now aims to raise $18 billion over the next three-year financing cycle from governments, civil society and the private sector. It has already raised more than a third of the total, and there are plans for a pledging summit next week, hosted by US President Joe Biden.